Three player chess has been invented, and it’s just as mind-boggling as you’d expect.

Now, three player chess has been invented and yes, the rules are quite tricky.

The board is hexagonally shaped to accommodate the third player, and the extra color is usually red to distinguish against the black and white.

The third player gives the game an extra dimension, when they are not taking their turn they effectively turn into an observer of the game, where the moves are relating to them but they cannot respond.

A rule was brought in by Russian chess champion Ilshat Tagiev to create neutrality in the game in order to stop two players ganging up on the other one. The rule states that you can only attack an opponent if they were attacked by them in a previous move.

Chess is one of the oldest games in the world, and despite the number of games that have been played throughout its history, no two games have ever been the same, and its popularity shows no sign of waning yet.

There are several different versions of three player chess available and the increased player mean the variations can differentiate quite a lot from regular chess. As in regular chess however, the winner is the first person to ‘checkmate’ against an other player, and the remaining person comes last after that.

Some versions including ‘Trichess‘ give immunity to weaker players in the rule their pieces cannot be taken when they are in their own third of the board.

Three player chess is obviously very niche, and while there might not be any clubs near you, you can sign up to play against others online.